Nino Santangelo

Nino Santangelo (1926-1968) was a Cuban heroin dealer and Marcano crime family assassin. In 1968, he briefly partnered up with Sal Marcano to kill Lincoln Clay, only to be killed in his first and only assassination attempt on Clay in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

Biography
Nino Santangelo was born in Cuba in 1926 to a family of Italian descent, and he became a prominent heroin trader in the United States. In 1968, Sal Marcano contacted Santangelo and asked him for his money in order to bribe Governor John McKeithen so that he could open his casino; Santangelo decided to give Marcano money if Marcano allowed for him to be allowed to freely deal heroin in the city. Marcano also asked Santangelo to kill Lincoln Clay, and Santangelo said that it would be his pleasure, as he "liked to kill the n*****s". He attempted to kill Clay in the French Quarter, with Santangelo's car and another car closing in on Clay from both ends of the street. Clay veered off the road into an alleyway and used his armored sedan as cover, throwing two grenades at the two Marcano cars as they stopped next to his car. The grenades killed all of the assassins and mortally wounded Santangelo, and Clay confronted Santangelo, who said, "So you are the n*****." Clay proceeded to say, "My name is Lincoln Clay, motherf*****," and he drove his knife up Santangelo's neck, brutally killing him.